Determination of the roadmap for the industry 4.0 compliance process with multi-criteria decision-making methods: The example of the Gaziantep textile sector

The phenomenon of digitalisation, which we often hear about with the effect of globalisation, has a very effective usage area and has started to be used extensively in the industrial field. This phenomenon is considered as the main driving force behind the management and strategic decisions of companies. The most common digital application in industry is smart production, also known as Industry 4.0. Industrial companies recognise the significant potential of smart manufacturing and are investing heavily in digital transformation. This new concept, also known as a wave of change in modern history, is a synthesis of new production technologies that enable an ecosystem of smart, autonomous and decentralised factories that enable manufacturers to achieve their goals faster. To remain competitive, accelerate and adapt, companies need to integrate this new business model and technologies into their systems. Technological developments and innovations in the business environment affect both the long-term and short-term performance of firms. Due to the uncertainty of alternatives and directions in technology, firms should determine their future plans by formulating strategies to support technological developments. For this reason, firms should use a roadmap appropriate to existing technologies to develop technologies that provide competitive advantage. Therefore, in the digital transformation process required by Industry 4.0, companies need to integrate the right technological and strategic roadmaps into their systems in order to achieve success. In this study, the adaptation process of 5 important textile companies operating in Gaziantep province to Industry 4.0 is analysed. Firstly, comprehensive literature research was conducted on the term Industry 4.0, which is a new digital transformation. Information about Industry 4.0 technologies and basic design principles are given. Research has been conducted on how companies should follow a strategic road map in the use of Industry 4.0 technology. As a result of these researches, the criteria to be used in the process of adaptation to Industry 4.0 were determined. Firstly, the determined criteria were weighted with the AHP Method, which is one of the multi-criteria decision-making methods. After determining the criteria weights, VIKOR, COPRAS, MOORA and PROMETHEE II methods were used to determine the extent to which the companies adapt to Industry 4.0. According to the results vi of the analysis using mathematical data, the companies were ranked among themselves and it was tried to determine the textile company that adapted the most to Industry 4.0.